During the Third Reich, German music education was seen to be a means to redeem the world through the German race and culture, particularly music. The official approach of music education was Musische Erziehung, which emphasized music?s power to transform human beings and society. After World War II, German music educators considered the reasons…

In the words of Ralph A. Smith, "We can now discern the outlines of the problem: how to acquaint students with the aesthetic form of life in a manner that is not only ethically acceptable but also theoretically justifiable and pedagogically promising." This essay interrogates conventional assumptions about applications of art history in…